Blog #22 Keeping up!

I am subscribed to some feeds, and I will read them, yes I will. And I will move more and eat less. (oh wait, that is for another meeting!) They will be a lot more interesting than my email. I am just interested in dating .....fill int the blanks, or working from home, or ordering healthy pet food. But I will try to keep up with what I have been working on, and I sure hope I do. I am trying to get pod casts on our website, and will, we are adding new features, and will create some good library accounts at Flickr, maybe FaceBook or MySpace and try to see what our patrons want and need.

It has been such an interesting experience to go along and try out the new tools. I really want to thank everyone who made this possible and lots of kudos to the SELCO staff for all the time and energy. Statewide, it was a great event.

Now do I get my treat?
Bluecat

Thing #21 Beyond MySpace

Howdy! I have been reading and visiting on-line communities. I don't belong to any groups, but I will search out and join a poetry or publishing group. Then I can chat and read about writing, reading and publishing poetry. I know there are some great library groups that it would be fun to be a part of. I joined Ning and will check back once a week. Or I will try to check back. I left some comments, uploaded a few pictures and watched the video posted by Aurora. I really like the Librarian's MANIFESTO! Art is art, but I would have enjoyed it more with different pictures, they didn't seem to match the idea for me. Just a comment!

I also like Web Junction. I like how it has continued to grow and evolve, and especially now there is a Minnesota Web Junction. I like feeling that the content is timely, correct and posted by library oriented people.

Truth be know, I don't feel isolated or alone or feel the need to reach out to join groups in my spare time. I get plenty of people contact and interaction at work. Really, the last thing I want is to interact online. Grouchy old BlueCat. Answering a few emails is about all the energy I have left at night. I am one of the "introverts" who recharge by being alone.

tee hee
23 things has been great! I love the comments, the idea that so many people are doing it and all the excitement it is generating.

If any of your read ASSOCIATES, my last column was about "23 things on a stick". A pretty good article if I say so myself.
http://associates.ucr.edu/journal/?page_id=145

Bluecat

Thing #20 FaceBook

I have a FaceBook page and have had for some time. I think I will create a library one as student seem to love it so much. All the college pages we have check it constantly and they got me to join. The amusing thing is I have found several people and several have found me. I have done six degrees of separation and a few other ones. I am not much of a group joiner, but I do look around. I think it is amusing that kids get "busted" for posting party sites or pictures of them boozing. SO, it is also a lesson in caution. But if you really want to know what kids are thinking or what to do or are interested in (for ordering for your library) I recommend reading profiles and comments.
You can read my profile too!
Search for Carol Borzyskowski and PLEASE BE MY FRIEND!!!!
Bluecat

Thing #19 Podcasts

Now this is the thing I really wanted to learn how to do, and it took me FOREVER to get it just up and running. But I am very excited. I haven't done any editing yet, but I did a mini pocast for all of you to listen to! I can't wait to get some on our website!
Blue Cat

Thing #18 YouTube

I first discovered YouTube when Linda and I were looking for "Peeps" videos, and wacky library videos. Then I showed my grandaughter Apryl Miley Cyrus's new video. Then of course I added some music to my FaceBook page and it came from YouTube.

I went to You Tube and did a search for Blue Cats

and was rewarded with quite a few. So now I will see if the embedding worked this time.

Linda and I have talked about making a video. We could do a tour of the library, either serious or straight and then upload it to YouTube, then insert the code in the webpage, yeah, I bet that would work!

I think YouTube is fun and social. I don't care if people access it fromt he library or not, but they should be wearing headphone. As long as they are coming into the building and using the facilites, I really don't mind what they visit on the Internet, as long as they don't bother people around the. They are only allowed an hour a day anyway, so if they want to spend it watching YouTube sillies, playing a Piarate game, or loading up their research paper on the RPC, I say, LET THEM!

Thing #17--ELM

Good heavens but things have come a long way since INFOTRACK was on CD-ROM. Because I am not up in the reference department I rarely go into ELM or even think about it. So, I went through every single one of the assignments and challenges and tried them all. I set up accounts everywhere and do hope to go back and use them. I love finding information, so this THING was great fun for me.
To be able to save your serces, edit them and make comments is wonderful and will be very useful in writing papers and researching. I plan to take advantage of this before writing my next column.
As for the library, I searched out POETRY SLAMS because we are going to have one, and sent the articles to other staff who are helping out. So, it saves them time too. This is a great library resource and is important to add credibility to LIBRARY (or as you said--ask a Librarina) instead of Ask Yahoo. Point the patrons towards a reliable answer from respected sources. What a "novel" idea.
Bluecat

Thing 16--Student 2.0

I really thing this is a cool tool, and useful. We have student pages who work here, and it is getting close to the end of the year now, and they are all talking about assignments and moaning. I showed one the RPC and she was delighted and asked for the link. I plan to add the link to our webpage for students to use.

The instructions in the guide were brilliant. They explained the basics so completely (about writing a paper) that they should be required reading for everyone entering college. KNOW what your instructor is asking for, and learn how to give it to them. I wish I would have had a tool like this.

I think it would work for other library projects too. For instance we have a Poetry Slam coming up and I tried plugging that in. The ideas weren't geared for what I needed, but some of it was still useful.

I know this is a simple thing, but I just want to comment on the fact that LINKS make it all so easy. You can get so easily from HOW to write to paper, to creating your thesis, and more. Great tool!

Games Thing #15

Holy gamesite, Batman! I get too nervous to play on-line games myself. Well, either by myself or with others. I think it has to go with watching Sean Connery in an old James Bond movie. But, I did look at the sites and thought about games in libraries. Right now, and I have been known to change my mind, I think I weigh in (and that is considerable) on the side of gaming isn't a service a library need offer. I looked at the virtual library in Second Life, and kept thinking, why does it have to be set inside a game when all this info is already available. It seems weird to me that someone playing a game would want serious research info. Unless it is a librarian playing the game and the character is a librarian!

I can see the argument that playing virtual world games builds social skills, and it may, but f2f does an even better job.

Oh argh! I went to Pirate Puzzle and tried bilging. I did it for awhile and earned points. Okay, but probably not something I will visit very often. But, I am trying!

Thing #14 LibraryThing

I came across LibraryThing last year and I enjoyed going through it again. This time I created an account and hope to actually add my books to it. I honestly drew a blank when I thought about books I owned and what to add. I think the ability to add, and catalog by tags is very useful. I can see small libraries using this service, and especially church libraries! I bet they would love it! Have I mentioned how much I like cloud tags, they are very visual and beautiful to me in a misty dreamy way. Here is the link to my sparsely populated library.
CarolBorz
But, it will fill up. I should add my DVD collection. I also like the idea of web based services because you can check from anywhere to see what is going on. For instance if you were shopping and found a great book that you had been meaning to buy and couldn't remember if you had purchased it yet, you could use your cell phone to check the Internet, look up LibraryThing and see if you had the item!
ta da!
Not me, I don't use my cell phone.

Thing #13 oh my!

I have reached a magic number, 13! I am over halfway and feeling pretty darn good about it. I have Yahoo! as my home page, and went and added a few widgets, changed color and order and played around there. That is alwasy interesting. I used to have Yahoo as my home page, and will keep it "at home" but now I am using the SELCO homepage so I can be closer to accessing my email.
What did I find that could be useful? I liked sticky notes, and I can see using that among the staff. I can see it helping productivity, esp. for meetings and agendas. I did join Remember the Milk, but I can't figue it out yet, need more time to explore. Basically at heart, I am just not a list maker and find it a fairly souless operation. I loved the countdown clock! THat could be fun for counting down to the SUmmer Reading Program! I think I will do that.
The concept on online calendars is good if we can train ourselves to use them. Maybe we could actually know when staff was out on vacation or leaving early. If everyone could access the calendar and be responsible in putting down their days off and away it could be very helpful.

Thing #12 Digging!

Okay, personally, because I don't do reference, these sites are not something I would use at work. But, because the older I have gotten the shorter my attention span has become, I love the news headline aspect. I looked at Mixx, Digg, Redditt, and Newsvine. I liked the look of feel and ease of use of Digg. I liked that it broke up the white space with pictures and links. It wasn't just a long list of titles like Redditt, or Mixx. I really liked Newsvine and even read quite a few articles. I think I will sign up for that, and use it at home. Possibly on break just to see what is going on in the world. I enjoyed it. Some of the images and article titles on Digg or MIxx were more X-rated and I don't feel like wading through all that, even if it is ranked by the public.
Speaking of that, I do like the idea of getting the news and info that people are interested in, and not the news that "they" feel I should read.
evil laugh
Bluecat

Thing #11 Del.icio.us

Bookmarks and tagging. I like the idea of being able to access your favorites from any computer you are using. I can see using Del.icio.us as a reference link, when patrons can add and tag their favorite sites, and I can see library staff using it, but I can't really figure out how a library would use it as a service. I went to the libraries given as sample and it isn't apparent to me where DELICIOUS is being used.
I had it before my computer crashed, so I do have an account. I had to remember my user name :) And I tried to re-install the icon, but it hasn't shown up. I am going to keep working on it and then go to using Del.icio.us instead a favorites, just to get used to something new. Then I will explore other sites that are tagged.

Guess what I LOVE! Tag Clouds. They look like poetry.
Bluecat

Thing #10

Wiki wiki
I first heard about wikis at MLA 2 years ago, and I wanted one then, but just didn't quite know how to work it into the library. I am finding out that the more tools I play around with, the more other tools become clear. So by now I have made a wiki, edited the 23things wiki, and edited our library one on strategic planning.
Wikimeister Bluecat

Thing #9

Well, Bluecat got the badge to load! Linda told me the secret, which I did NOT find anywhere else, and I appreciate. If you write me, I;ll even tell you. In fact you can send me a Googledoc to look at!
I went to both GoogleDocs and ZoHo. I think Zoho is more jazzy, but found the Google very easy to use. However, I never did find the old manuscript there, I wasn't allowed. Plus I had to keep logging out and logging is as a different user (same old me) to use Google. I like it though, and can see it as an in-house or business application very easily. I see it more as a library planning tool, than just something to offer patrons to use.
The Zoho wouldn't let me edit at all. But I have been on some sort of killer computer program and CPU rampage lately, so I must need to go and get de-electrified or something.
We have a Wiki and I have used that and even set up up for the Fine Arts group. Another good way to share the info, and I see those growing like mushrooms!
Bluecat
going to see what is next

Thing #8, quite a bit of fun

Hey hey hey. I made a trading card, and a badge, and looked at some of the other toys. Right now I think I have to just try them out, and then think about ways to incorporate them into the website. I am thinking a mosaic or a flickr badge of photos from our upcoming book sale might be really interesting. Or even better, when we get the banner (150 yrs) I could take pictures and get those up on the site, and that would promote the fact Winona is going to be capital for a day, AND the library is a big part of Winona.

I can't get the Flickr badge to show, I keep getting an error message that the html is bad. I can't seem to find the problem on my own. Disappointing! I did find some neat pictures for the badge.
BUT!!! I added a slide show just on page elements, so I still get to use the cat pictures from Flickr, but not the badge.
Bluecat

Thing #7--continued

I forgot to say that TODAY I did a webinar. We are looking into adding BookLetters to our library page and they did a training session over the phone & my computer. It was fun and easy. I have done a few others and think they, like all long-distance learning tools are FABULOUS!
I haven't looked ahead to see how far down the number it is, but Linda set up a WIKI for us so we can discuss long moving and shifting projects. I set one up for the Fine Art's Commission a few months ago.
Library 2.0 R Us
Blue

Thing #7 2.0 communications

Seriously, I have a cell phone that I rarely use, and can't imagine sending a text msg. I resisted the cell phone for ages until one snowy day...and...anyway, in 15 months I have used it 5 or 6 times.
But, I do use email, and I remember how frustrated I was when trying to learn how and what it was. Linda & I went to a branch out session and we couldn't get anyone to explain to us how to use email. He know SELCO had it but they were not offering training at the time, but the funny thing is, we couldn't communicate that what we were asking was how do we set up our account! Gads, remember the "envelope" and SMTP? After reading the info in Thing7, I went trough and cleaned out my mailboxes, reorganized and promised to only check my mail 3 or 4 times a day.
Now the IM. I took all of that off my home computer. I just don't want to be that available to anyone. (Why I resisted the cell phone) but I think IM for reference would be a great idea and I would like to see it implemented in our library. If there is no one at the desk, set it to offline!
The SMS, seem like a cross between texting and email. The thought of condensing words and using tons o abbreviations seems like it promotes both sloppy writing and quick thinking. ha ha. I like the idea of saying your piece in 25 words or less. My son is a master of that! He was way ahead of the curve on that one.
The thought of text msg a reference librarian really expands the power of information. You could be sitting at the beach and want to know if the creature you just stepped on is poisonous, so take a picture and send it with your question to a librarian. Or if you need to know the names of all 8 reindeer while at a Christmas program, text a librarian. It could also be great for Trivial Pursuit. Okay, okay, I know kids are welded to their phones and they would use it. Which means no cell phone in class? I know if they were sitting across the room from a librarian, they would probably ask her via email, IM or text msg before walking over there.

Image Chef doesn't work

Well, I had to right click on my image, save it to the computer, and then upload it to blogger to get Image Chef to work. I finally got it up but wholly mohlly it took me forever. I must be missing something simple. I will keep going back until I figure it out!
frazzled blue cat

Thing#6 Image generator

in the morning, in the evening, ain't we got fun?
I am going to concentrate on getting around, and just exploring all 23 sticky things for now, and THEN I will do that assimilation thing, where I internalize and figure out how to apply the knowledge. Yes, I am a liberal arts grad :)
Blue
ps. I went to the random image generator Image Chef, and created a cool visual poetry but it wouldn't show up in the blog. All I would get was the little box with that annoying red "x" in it(on my blog) with the text IMAGE CHEF. I tried it 3 times too. However, I did learn how to delete a post!

Thing #5--Flikr

Great news, I think we are up to 3 in the building working on the sticky 23! Plus Gretchen from the SELCO advisory board stopped in to say she is doing the sticky 23 too. Love the excitment this is generating. I am just dying to make a mash-up but don't know if I can do it without serious hand-holding and step by step instructions. I will try tho.
I did a letter generater, so let us see if this works!

YEAH BABY it worked!
C

Thing#4-Flikr

Hey Hey! Last night I downloaded pictures to Flikr, and I took the tour and did some reading. I think it will be tons o fun and plan to spend more time learning my way around. Now I want to figure out how to make one of those rotating picture cubes (if I can figure our what it is called) and post it to the library web site. I have already talked it over with other staff members and we are going to create a library Flikr site. How cool is that?
c

Thing#3 RSS Reader

I have one! I first set up a blog reader in Google, but I have to admit I use Yahoo more so unless I was going to google, or logged in I was sort of stuffed on getting the feeds read. Now today I set one up in Blogspot and I was still trying to figure out how to KNOW I had something new to read. Well, I continued reading and installed the (duh!) NOTIFIER! So now I have a cool little icon in my tray that sits there happily and notifies me if something new comes in. Then I just click on it and the browser opens and I read it!
Nifty. I subscribed to SHIFTED LIBRARIAN, Dilbert, & Salon Magazine. I have a few of the 23bloggers on my GOOGLE READER and will check those too.

Now to figure out how to create the RSS ( an RSS Sender??)on my website. I mean, the little symbol, and have people subscribe to things like the library newsletter. That means more reading, right! Bring it on, baby!
c

Thing #2--What is Library 2.0

The simple answer is always best! I love the definition of L2 as "Making your library space more interactive, collaborative, and driven by community needs." What a cool concept. We always think we are giving our community what they need, but maybe not always what they want! So, with more interaction and input from the public, I think the focus of our library will begin to change.

I think this type of change is exciting and not at all transitory. The web and its uses will continue to evolve as more people get involved. A simple library blog is an easy way to keep the public informed of what is going on in your space, and when they start commenting back, well, you get an idea of what is going on in theirs.

Just today another staff member and I had a really exciting conversation about looking into new subscription services we could offer our patrons. We are finding solid, interactive information we never knew existed. Part of the reason for my excitement is the simple fact we are becoming more open to new ideas, and so are our patrons.
L2? Bring it on baby!
c

Blue Cat's Sticky 23, Thing #1 My blog

I have created a blog on blogger. I have done this before, but never really used it. I even tried to set one up for the library but no one ever wanted to post. But, since I like to write anyway, I intend to keep posting to this blog, even AFTER I am awarded my completion prize. I have to say BLOGGER.COM made it easy to set up a blog. I saved the URL in my library favorites in a file call 23 things, and also saved the 23 Things on a stick blog site. That way I can find everything the next time.
Looking forward to learning new things and ways to use them!
BlueCat

Well, here I am, ready to work my way through the 23 things on a stick. I'll be reading you! c